JOHESU peddling rumours, twisting facts – NMA

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) says the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) has been deliberately peddling falsehood and twisting facts to get the sympathy of the public.

The FCT NMA Chairman, Dr Chiedozie Achonwa, said this it at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday.

He noted that JOHESU’s misinformation and manufacture of non- existent figures was just to hoodwink stakeholders.

He said that JOHESU would get the sympathy of the innocent and unsuspecting public who may tend to believe their propaganda if NMA kept quite.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that JOHESU last week alerted the public on alleged efforts by Nigerian doctors to frustrate ongoing talks to end the four-week-old strike embarked upon by the union.

It also accused the Ministries of Health and Labour of collaborating with the doctors to suppress JOHESU’s legitimate demands from the government.

But the NMA branch chairman clarified that the protracted JOHESU strike was essentially against medical doctors.

“We must let Nigerians know that the unnecessary strike is centred on quest for equal pay with medical doctors as well as leadership contestation in our hospitals.

“It must be reiterated that the NMA has never been against any wage, salary increase or adjustment for health workers.

“It must be emphasised that what JOHESU is asking is not necessarily increment in salary per se, but equal pay as doctors,” he said.

He said that the concept of wage relativity was used in wage management to ensure that only equal job of equal value attract equal pay.

Achonwa threatened that the association would not accept any attempt to further distort or erode the existing relativity as agreed and signed in collective bargaining agreement of 2014.

He said that doctors in the FCT have been going about their legitimate duties in all public facilities.

“They have to go extra miles to cover for the absence of the allied health professionals in order to ensure service delivery to patients.

“All hospitals in the FCT are working at 80 per cent capacity even without the JOHESU,’’ the chairman said.

He however advised the allied health professionals to be reasonable in their demands, suspend their strike, resume work and join the doctors to continue the good work for the benefit of the masses. (NAN)